


Work In Progress

by ceasefire



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Community: fanfic100, Developing Relationship, High School, M/M, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-10-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 17:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceasefire/pseuds/ceasefire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new student enters Midorijima High School during Aoba's final year, and he finds himself drawn to him despite their odd beginnings. </p><p>A collection of short ficlets, based on fanfic100 prompts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quarrelsome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quarrelsome/gifts).



> All these ficlets are written (unofficially) for fanfic100's prompt table. You can check my progress [here](http://truce.dreamwidth.org/5939.html). They'll be posted in chronological order; the numbers are just the numbers of the prompts. Noiz and Aoba are the focus, but the whole cast will make an appearance. 
> 
> The way I write the school itself is kind of a mish-mash of different high school cultures. I'm not attempting to write it to be accurate for one single place.
> 
> I'll be posting these five at a time to tumblr. I hope you enjoy them.
> 
> Dedicated to Quarrelsome, for encouraging my headcanon for this and drawing awesome art :P
> 
> Artwork for this fic by others will be linked in the corresponding chapters' notes.

**01\. Beginnings**

"Seragaki, Aoba."

Aoba raised his hand to make the teacher aware of his presence, and received a nod in return. Koujaku turned away from the front of the room and shot him a smile over his shoulder. 

Their first day of their final year of high school was going well. This was their first class back after recess, and one of Koujaku's least-favourite classes overall: English. Koujaku turned back to the front, and Aoba could already feel his attention wandering as his gaze drifted to the window. 

A few minutes of staring later and Aoba realised the teacher's voice was growing louder.

The surname was foreign and nigh incomprehensible to Aoba, but he could catch the given name as the teacher repeated it.

_Noiz._

A yawn from directly behind Aoba, followed by a soft sigh.

"Here."

The teacher sounded annoyed but moved on with the role call. An unfamiliar face greeted Aoba as he turned around to look at the other student; green eyes, multiple piercings and a bored expression, which quickly became annoyed as he stared.

"What?"

Aoba quickly turned back to the front of the room, feeling heat prickle on the back of his neck. He couldn't be sure, but he swore from the way the back of his neck was prickling that Noiz's gaze stayed fixed on him for a long time after he had turned his attention back to the front of the room.


	2. What?

**77\. What?**

"The... ab... eel?" 

Koujaku squinted at the sentence that their English teacher had written on the whiteboard at the front of the room. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder at Aoba, his expression desperate, but Aoba could only shrug and offer him a sympathetic look. 

"Did you do the reading you were assigned over the break?" their teacher asked. The tips of Koujaku's ears went red. He wasn't good at English anyway, and had no desire to improve his skills. They often studied together for final exams, and Aoba had to help Koujaku with English as much as Koujaku had to help him with math. 

After a few more minutes of Koujaku struggling to read the sentence that Aoba suspected their teacher enjoyed, she told him to stop and turned her attention back to the rest of the class.

"Can anyone else read it?"

No one in front of Aoba volunteered, so he figured they'd all neglected there holiday homework as much as he and Koujaku had. Aoba squirmed uncomfortably, and then almost fell out of his seat when the teacher pointed at him.

"Yes, you."

Aoba swallowed against the lump in his throat, but the sound of the chair behind him scraping against the floor told him that he wasn't the one who'd been called upon.

"Yes... Noiz, is it?"

" _The ability to speak English well is considered an important skill for students to learn._ "

Noiz read the sentence 

"What?" Koujaku asked blankly, and Noiz repeated the sentence back in Japanese. The barest hint of a smirk was visible on his lips, and Aoba felt a twinge of annoyance on behalf of his friend. He didn't feel nearly as annoyed as Koujaku looked, though. Aoba felt a strange sense of apprehension as he looked at Koujaku.

He had a bad feeling about this.


	3. Sixth Sense

**35\. Sixth sense**

"Can you believe that new kid?" Koujaku complained loudly, digging through his locker in annoyance as he searched for the textbook he'd forgotten.

"He's gonna hear you if you talk that loud," Aoba muttered. The hallways were always loud in between classes, but Noiz was just a few lockers, digging through his own belongings for something. Noiz retrieved a small green and black cube from his locker and, as if sensing that he was being talked about, he looked directly at Aoba. Aoba quickly looked away, but not before he saw Noiz pocket the cube.

"Correcting me in front of everyone like that," Koujaku scowled, slamming his locker shut so hard that Aoba could feel the vibrations through his arm as he leaned on the locker next to Koujaku's.

"Was it really that bad?" Aoba asked weakly.

"He made me look like an idiot."

"You weren't about to get it right or anything. And you hate English."

"So? That doesn't mean he can act like an asshole!"

Aoba sighed. He knew he was right, to a degree -- Noiz had looked somewhere between smug and bored when he'd corrected Koujaku, so much so that even Aoba had felt annoyed -- but the last thing he wanted to do was encourage Koujaku. There was no reasoning with him when he was worked up like this. "Yeah. Come on, we're gonna be late."

Luckily the room where they had math wasn't too far away, and they managed to grab a desk at the back a few seconds before the teacher arrived. It didn't seem like Noiz was in this class with them. Koujaku's expression showed just the barest hint of relief as they sat down.

"I still don't get why he annoys you so much," Aoba muttered from the corner of his mouth as the rest of their class greeted the teacher. The severity of Koujaku's reaction didn't exactly match the extent of Noiz's 'crime'.

"... I've just got a bad feeling about the guy," Koujaku said, expression souring again. "Call it a sixth sense."

The teacher told them rather sharply to be quiet after that, and that was the end of their conversation.


	4. Lunch

**57\. Lunch**

"Roof?" Koujaku asked, carrying his lunch casually beneath one arm and embracing a blushing girl with the other. Aoba nodded, but mentally he sighed. Koujaku had been this way since he'd first known him, and they'd known each other for more than half their lives. He could remember Koujaku being at his sixth birthday party and losing musical chairs to a girl they'd both had a crush on on purpose.

Aoba's eyebrow ticced a little as he followed Koujaku to the roof. He'd found the girl hurriedly kissing Koujaku on the cheek later in the day, and that had been the end of his short-lived crush on her.

His mood improved as they reached the roof. It was technically off-limits to students, but the teachers never bothered enforcing the rule anymore than students bothered adhering to it. Koujaku smiled and opened the door to the roof, and the rush of warm summer air that greeted Aoba wasn't any more pleasant than the humid atmosphere of the stairs.

Koujaku stepped aside to let the girl accompanying him through first, but when she stepped out onto the roof her lips formed a silent 'oh' of surprise.

Noiz was lying on the roof, one arm behind his head and the other extended out in front of him. The green and black cube Aoba had seen earlier was in his lap, and from it several semi-transparent screens were being displayed.

It must be his allmate, Aoba realized belatedly.

Noiz, alerted to their presence by the sound of the door opening, turned to look at them for a moment before turning back to the allmate's screens.

"Sorry for intruding!" the girl said. "We'll find somewhere else to sit."

Noiz didn't react to what the girl had said at all, and she looked at Noiz with a strange expression. She seemed unsure of how to react.

Aoba turned to Koujaku to suggest another place where they could eat, only to realize too late that his friend was advancing on Noiz.

"Oi, you. Don't ignore her."

That got Noiz's attention back on them. Aoba suddenly wished he was invisible.

"You got a problem?" Noiz asked, and Aoba suddenly realized that Noiz wasn't the type to back down from a fight any more than Koujaku was. Ignoring the girl, who was standing there gaping at the unfolding scene, he ran forward and grabbed Koujaku's free arm before his friend could respond.

"Ah, sorry for this. We'll move right away."

For a second Koujaku tensed in a way that suggested he was going to throw Aoba off, but he relented and headed back to the door.

"He was really rude," the girl sniffed as they climbed back down the stairs. This time Koujaku did throw Aoba off, albeit gently, and he put his arm back around the girl to comfort her.

"I should have done more to defend your honor, miss. Please accept my apologies."

"Koujaku-sempai..." she replied, colour rushing to her cheeks as one of Koujaku's hands toyed with her hair. Aoba sighed, rolled his eyes and raised his hand to his forehead to ward off the headache he could feel forming behind his eyes.


	5. Friends

**21\. Friends**

The final class for the day was music, and Aoba was glad that he could finish the day with something that was a bit easier on his mind. Music was probably the most informal class he took, and his partner for it was easily the best in the grade, which made it easier for him to keep up.

"Aoba-san!" Clear said with a smile. He quickly cleared his books off the desk next to his own so Aoba could sit down, and Aoba grinned as he did so.

"Hi Clear, how was your holiday?"

"It was excellent!" Clear said, his eyes lighting up. "Grandfather and I traveled all around Europe together! We went to France, England, Scotland, Germany..."

Aoba smiled as Clear recounted his trip. Their teacher was always late for class, and the class was so small that they usually just split into their pairs and started work on their own until the teacher arrived to give them direction. A knock at the door surprised Aoba just as Clear was getting into the finer points of his time in London. 

Noiz walked into the room and, after double-checking that the teacher was not yet there, took a seat on the other side of the room.

"Who's that?" Clear asked.

"New kid," Aoba muttered. "He's in my homeroom and a few of my classes."

"He seems nice," Clear said, smiling broadly.

" You think so, huh?" Aoba said, laughing sheepishly at Clear. He always saw the best in people, even if he didn't know them.

"Yes," Clear said firmly. "Ah, Aoba-san? I just realized that our new classmate won't have a partner to work with in this class. We should form a group!"

"Ah, Clear, I'm not..." Aoba started, but he didn't get to finish. Clear stood up, pulled Aoba's chair out from behind his desk with surprising strength and grinned as he directed it towards Noiz. Noiz, who had been engrossed with his music textbook, looked up just as Clear gave Aoba a gentle push out of his seat. 

"Go ask your friend to join us, Aoba-san!"

Noiz's face was unreadable as Aoba approached him; every step seemed to take years to complete. Aoba stopped beside Noiz's desk and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly to alleviate his own awkwardness.

"Ah, sorry about that. Clear gets kind of carried away..."

"You're not my friend."

That surprised Aoba. Noiz didn't look bored anymore, but nor was his expression hard to read. If he had to give the emotion a name, he would have said that Noiz almost looked _cold_.

"I didn't say I was."

That was true, and Noiz must have realized it too. He turned back to the textbook with a sigh.

"What's this about? Feel bad that your friend acted like an idiot before? I don't need your pity. I'm fine on my own."

Aoba didn't know how to respond to that. It seemed like a huge overreaction to a minor misunderstanding. 

Thankfully, Clear thought it was about the right time to come over and break the tension.

"Aoba-san, your friend didn't seem to want to move, so I moved our things over here instead!" Clear said, placing their books down on the desks in front of Noiz's. "Hello, my name is Clear. Pleased to meet you! What's your name?"

"... Noiz." 

Aoba was surprised by Noiz's quick reply, but he seemed to have done it more out of blank shock. Aoba could relate; that was how he'd reacted when Clear had first decided they'd partner up for music class. He was kind, but in a way that was oddly forceful.

"I hope we'll all work well together and be friends!"

From the look on Noiz's face, Aoba thought that Clear might have been hoping for a little too much.


	6. Teammates

**26\. Teammates**

Aoba felt more exhausted after this first day of school than any of the other first days he could ever remember having. Their homework was already piling up, and the teachers didn't seem like they were about to be lenient just because it was early in the semester. Aoba sighed, ran his hand through the front of his hair and rounded the next corner he saw so he could go to the home economics block. His afternoon homeroom teacher had said that all the students of the subject had to go and retrieve their recipe list for the next day's class before leaving that afternoon.

As he approached the room where they did all of their cooking for the class, he noticed someone else leaving the building. A smile of recognition lit up his face, and he jogged the remaining distance and raised his hand in greeting.

"Mink!"

The other boy turned to him, his expression visibly softening as he recognized Aoba. Mink had been in Aoba's home economics class since their first year of high school, and they'd stuck together as partners in the subject. The first time Aoba had seen Mink, he'd thought he was an older student sitting in on the class, and he's been surprised to find out they were the same age.

"Is that the list for tomorrow?" Aoba asked, pointing to the paper in Mink's hand. Mink nodded and held it out for Aoba to see.

"We're just baking whatever we want."

"At least someone's being easy on us," Aoba muttered, and he held his hand out so he could take a photo of the list with his Coil for reference. "Thanks. And, aah..."

"What is it?"

Aoba shifted uncomfortably. "Do you want to partner up for class again this year?"

Mink smirked, just a little. "Why do you look so nervous?"

"Shut up," Aoba muttered, feeling heat prickle in his cheeks. Hopefully it wasn't enough for Mink to notice. After the mistake he'd made in their final practical exam last time...

"It's fine," Mink said, sighing just slightly at the worried look on Aoba's face. Aoba felt something like disbelief, but broke into a smile nonetheless. 

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then!"

Mink raised a hand in farewell, and Aoba smiled as he headed back the way he'd come from to walk home.


	7. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Threre is some minor spoilers for Re:Connect in this chapter, and major spoilers for the original game. I tried to keep the Re:Connect spoilers vague. I just thought I'd warn those currently waiting for the English patch.

**24\. Family**

"You didn't have to wait for me," Aoba muttered, averting his eyes awkwardly as Koujaku grinned at him. "I can walk home on my own."

"I didn't have anything else to do," Koujaku said, tossing his hair out of his face with a flick of his head. "Besides, I don't really need and excuse to wait, do I? We've been doing this for a long time. "

Koujaku was telling the truth. They'd grown up together, attended the same schools their entire lives and their entire families were close friends. The only time they didn't walk home together was when Aoba had to work at his part-time job, or when Koujaku was with a girl. They may have been the same age, but Aoba saw Koujaku like a big brother to him.

Koujaku smiled awkwardly then, and Aoba gave him a questioning look. 

"What's wrong?"

"How's Sei doing?"

"Oh, he's doing better ," Aoba said, forcing a smile. "But..."

"But what?"

"Well, he's been missing a lot of school," Aoba replied, waving his hair airily in Koujaku's direction, "and even though he's better than before, he's still not well enough to go for full days at school. So grandma was thinking of sending him to a school that could help him better, or getting him a tutor..."

"What do your parents think?"

"They think it's for the best, too..."

Koujaku gave him a familiar look. This was the part Aoba hated about talking about Sei; the sympathetic but hopeless look everyone gave him. It made him feel like everyone had already given up hope that his brother would get better. He knew they didn't mean any harm, but...

The rest of their walk together passed in awkward silence. Koujaku reached out and gave him a pat on the back as they reached the corner where their routes home split.

"Hey, sorry about that. If you didn't want to talk about it..."

"It's fine," Aoba said hurriedly, shaking his head. "Are you coming over for dinner tonight?"

"No, mum's gonna be home early tonight," Koujaku said with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, Aoba."

"See you tomorrow!"

Aoba's pace picked up as he approached home. His energy felt renewed now that he was out of school, and he practically ran through the gate and through the front door.

"I'm home!" Aoba called, sliding the door closed behind him. Immediately, the sounds of two soft sets of footfalls approached him from the top floor of the house. Sei appeared at the top of the stairs, his smile bright, but it was Aoba's allmate that reached him first, tiny paws making muffled thumps on the stairs as he descended.

"Aoba, welcome home."

"Hi, Ren," Aoba said, lifting the allmate from the floor to hold him. 

"Welcome home, Aoba," Sei said, and Aoba returned the smile his brother was giving him.

"Suddenly, there was a shuffling sound coming from the hallway and Aoba and Sei's grandmother appeared from around the corner, her expression angry.

"Aoba, you idiot! You forgot to lock the front door again this morning!"

"Sorry, sorry," Aoba said with a sigh, ducking to avoid the first smack that was aimed at the back of his head but taking the second. He knew his grandma wouldn't stop until she'd landed a hit, anyway.

"Also, you're late. Your parents were phoning this afternoon, did you forget?"

"Oh!" Aoba said, dumping his schoolbag in the front doorway and toeing his shoes off. "Are they still there?"

"They were about to ring your Coil," Sei said. "They're still on my phone upstairs..."

"Lucky." Aoba sighed with relief and put Ren down on the floor at his feet. "Grandma, I'll clean up after I've talked to mum and dad!"

"You'd better take your bag with you when you go!" Tae shouted as she retreated back to the kitchen, and Aoba smiled in response.

"Yeah, I will. Let's go, Sei."

Sei smiled and climbed back up the stairs, Aoba close behind him and Ren bringing up the rear.


	8. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, spoilers. On the other hand... if you're not sure who Sei is, you probably shouldn't be reading this fic until you've finished the first game. OTL

**90\. Home**

After dinner, Aoba sat down and started going through his homework. The fact that he even had homework to begin with was annoying, but he managed to get through most of it fast. Finally, there was only one thing that stood between him and freedom.

"So, if I add this to the total..." Aoba muttered, biting mindlessly on the end of his pencil. He flipped to the back of the textbook to check the answer and scowled. "Urgh, that's the answer?! I'm never gonna get this..."

"Aoba... it's only your first day learning it," Sei said calmly, carefully getting up from his bed in their shared room to look over his shoulder. "Here, see? You've used the wrong formula."

"How come you're so good at this?" Aoba whined pointlessly as he began to redo the equation. 

"Well, there's not a lot to do in the hospital, so studying passes the time."

"Oh, hey," Aoba said, spinning around on his chair to look at Sei has he retreated back to his bed. "How did it go today at the hospital?"

"It was fine," Sei replied, and Aoba let a sigh escape through his teeth. Sei always tried to avoid telling him things for the sake of protecting him, and it annoyed him a bit that it felt like he wasn't allowed to be concerned. 

"What did they say to you and Grandma?"

"Well... they think I'm progressing well. I should be able to stay at home for a while now. There's no need for me to go back to the hospital for now."

"That's good to hear," Aoba sighed, placing his pencil down on the desk. "What about school?" 

"Ah... not yet. Grandma started phoning tutors today, and before you came home mother and father said they thought it was a good idea for me to rest for a little longer."

"I see," Aoba said shortly. He supposed it was too much to have hoped that today's appointment would change anything. If Sei caught some sort of illness while he was at school, while he was still trying to recover from his last hospital stay, it would mean...

Aoba shut his eyes and turned back to his homework.

"Aoba?" Sei asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Aoba said, staring fixedly at his math book. "Hey, can you help me with the rest of these questions? They're the only thing keeping me from finishing."

"Okay!" Sei said, launching himself off the bed with more energy than Aoba had seen him have in a while.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you," Aoba pouted as Sei pulled over the chair from his own desk to sit on.

"A little bit. But it's mostly because I like helping you, Aoba."

"And the other part?" Aoba said with a smile.

"... it's a little bit funny when you get frustrated. You get a weird frown on your face."

Aoba sighed, picked up his pencil again and looked at the next question on the list. A moment later, he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder and turned around just in time to see Sei lean over to hug him.

"It's good to be home," Sei said, voice muffled by Aoba's shirt. "I missed you, Aoba."

Aoba smiled, briefly resting his cheek on the top of Sei's head in response.

"I missed you too. I'm glad you're home."

"You're just saying that because you need help with math," Sei said in a teasing voice as he moved away. 

"Shut up," Aoba said, blushing lightly. "So, umm... how do you do this one?"

Sei couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice as he began to instruct Aoba on the finer points of his math homework.


	9. Sound

**37\. Sound**

The soft melody of the piano drifted through the building and out of its doors, leading Aoba inside with a sense of peace. He'd finished his homework fairly late the night before even with Sei's help, and the familiar music made his mind and body feel both tired and strangely alert. As he entered the music classroom, he looked at the back corner of the room and saw the familiar sight of Clear seated behind the piano, eyes shut and lips nothing silent words as he played.

The unexpected thing was finding Noiz sitting at the desk in front of the piano, recording the whole song onto his allmate's hard drive.

"Ah, Aoba-san!" Clear said, peering over the top of the piano. Noiz turned around to look at him too, but seemed unsure how to acknowledge him and turned back to his allmate instead, looking a little awkward as he scrolled through its stored files.

"Good morning," Aoba said, tossing his books onto the desk to the right of the desk Noiz has claimed. They were the only three people in the room, and Aoba couldn't help but admire Noiz and Clear for their dedication. He'd been sure he was going to be a good ten minutes early himself.

"We thought you weren't gonna show," Noiz commented, and Aoba gave him confused look. 

"Eh?"

"Last night, I sent messages to both of yours coils asking if we could meet early," Clear said. Aoba felt guilt creep into his mind and send a shiver down his back. He hadn't bothered checking his coil the night before or during the morning. Clear seemed to feel worse than Aoba did because he'd made him feel guilty, and he lifted both hands from the piano and waved them in front of his face.

"Don't feel bad, Aoba-san! It was my fault for sending the message at such short notice!"

"It's okay, Clear. We're all here now. What did you want to meet about?"

"I looked at the outline of this subject on the student portal page, and it seems our first assignment is performing a song in our group. We can create an original song, or do a cover from a selected list..."

"It's not due for another month and a half yet," Noiz muttered. Clear looked distressed by Noiz's lack of initiative.

"It's a big task! We should start now to make sure we're ready, Noiz-san. We don't know which song to perform, and our choice will depend on our individual strengths..."

Aoba hummed softly, looking at Clear's fingers spread elegantly across the piano keys, and an idea suddenly popped into his mind. "Oi, Clear..."

"Yes, Aoba-san?"

"What's the song you were playing on the piano before?"

Aoba had certainly heard him perform it before, but he'd never gotten around to asking about it. Clear smiled brightly.

"It's a song I composed myself. It's called The Jellyfish Song."

"Jellyfish, huh..." Aoba said, laughing just a little at the enthusiastic expression that appeared on Clear's face. 

"My grandfather told me about them when I was young, and I've loved them ever since! I think they're beautiful!"

If Aoba hadn't already been amused, the bemused look on Noiz's face would have been the end of him. Noiz looked irritated by his reaction and Clear looked confused, so Aoba took a second to regain his composure before he spoke again.

"We could perform it for the assessment together."

Clear's eyes shone in a way that made Aoba worried that he would be crying if he wasn't smiling.

"I mean... i-if you don't mind."

"I would love to hear Aoba-san performing The Jellyfish Song with me."

Clear beamed at Aoba for a few seconds, the look on his face so passionately happy that Aoba couldn't help but avert his eyes, heart beating a little faster against his ribs. When he looked back, Clear was smiling at Noiz instead.

"And Noiz-san too."

Noiz hummed and leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him and steepling his fingers on the desk. Aoba had obviously noticed the piercings on his face and ears, but now he noticed a few gleaming spots on the surface on his hands as well. Idly, he wondered how much it must have hurt to have your skin full of holes like that, and he found himself staring at Noiz's hands as he began to speak.

"As much as you're fawning over that guy's sentimental suggestion, we can't be sure until we know it will work for all of us."

"Well, I think you would already know what my specialty is," Clear said, fingers brushing over the piano's keys, "but I also like to sing."

Noiz turned to Aoba. "And you?"

"Ah... I can play some simple percussion instruments, but I mainly just sing."

"You're a vocalist?" Noiz asked. He looked sceptical enough that Aoba almost pouted in response.

"You don't need to look so surprised. What do you play, anyway?"

Noiz paused for a second and gave Aoba another one of his odd stares; Aoba wasn't quite used to Noiz's weird disposition yet, and he had the odd feeling that every time Noiz looked at him like that, he was desperately trying to figure something out. Finally, Noiz let his eyes fall shut.

"... drums."

"Hmmm... that seems like it would fit you well, Noiz-san," Clear responded, and Aoba couldn't help but agree. Despite Noiz's quiet personality, the drums seemed oddly suited to him.

Clear's smile widened, and he clasped both of his hands together in front of him as he leaned over the piano to look at both of his teammates.

"This will be so interesting! I can't wait to work together properly."

A few of their classmates had started coming into the classroom now, and Clear got up from behind the piano and sat at the desk to the left of Noiz's. Aoba sat at the desk he'd left his books on earlier and tried to concentrate on the front as their teacher entered the room, looking flustered.

Eventually, Aoba's eyes started lingering on Noiz again. Noiz had gone back to staring at him out of the corner of his eye, but they both looked away when their eyes met. 

'Interesting'... well, that was one word for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Art**  
> [Doodles](http://25.media.tumblr.com/fa2935492259795439e1a294b2cb5003/tumblr_mtmyd11K3A1radbjho1_1280.jpg) by mio. Contains spoilers for many chapters up to this one.
> 
> Also: I dropped music as a subject the moment it wasn't compulsory. Please tolerate my lack of accuracy.


	10. Taste

**39\. Taste**

The morning classes were done with and students spilled out of the school buildings and into the grounds. Usually, Aoba would have walked back to the lockers alone and found Koujaku by now, but today was different. His last class before the break had been information technology, and as it turned out, he had a new classmate.

"Hey," Aoba muttered, scratching the back of his neck, "... umm."

Noiz looked over at him. "What?"

"Thanks for helping me out just now," Aoba said. There had been a few things on their activity sheet that Aoba hadn't been able to get right. Noiz had come over to help him without a single complaint or any indication that Aoba wanted assistance, and Aoba had been both surprised and slightly relieved that he'd done it. He'd gotten everything done on time, and that meant one less thing he'd have to do for homework.

"It was nothing. The code was easy anyway," Noiz replied.

"... is that so?" Aoba said with a slightly strained smile, and Noiz nodded.

"Plus I wanted you to be quiet. You kept muttering under your breath and cursing when you got it wrong. It was pretty annoying."

"I see," Aoba said, scowling a little as Noiz turned away from him again. He didn't get why Noiz was so antagonistic, especially when he'd done nothing to annoy him. As they reached the door that led to the school roof, Noiz suddenly crossed in front of Aoba's path to go through it.

"Whoa!" Aoba gasped, stopping as quickly as he could to avoid crashing into him. "Watch it, would you? Where do you think you're going?"

"Up."

"Aren't you going to grab your food?"

"Don't have any."

"Why not?" Aoba asked. "Did you forget it?"

Noiz was quiet for a moment, his hand still resting on the door handle. "Usually I just go home and eat a pizza after school."

"... a whole pizza?"

"Yeah," Noiz replied, as if the concept of eating nothing but pizza every day was normal. His hand suddenly twisted, and the door came open with the sound of old, creaking metal. "See you."

Noiz left without another word, and Aoba frowned at his retreating back until it was out of sight. He had a feeling there was more to it, but he didn't want to push the matter. 

Still...

Aoba walked to his locker and went for his bag, digging through it until he found a small container nestled at the very bottom. Grinning, Aoba pulled it free from the crush of books and papers and held it snugly beneath one arm before going back in for the larger lunch box closer to the top.

A hand on his shoulder startled him, and Aoba turned around to find Koujaku smiling at him.

"Hey, Aoba. Roof?"

"Ah, no, not today. I mean..." Aoba muttered, and Koujaku gave him a confused look. 

"Are you okay? You're kind of red in the face."

"I'm fine!" Aoba said with a forced laugh. "Just wait here, I'll be back in a minute!"

"Aoba?!"

Aoba could hear Koujaku calling after him, but he didn't stop until he reached the door that led to the roof.

If Koujaku knew what he was going to do...

Aoba sighed, tightened his grip on both of the containers in his hands and began to climb the stairs.

He jogged up the stairs, but overestimated how steep the stairwell was to the point that he was panting by the time he reached the final landing. Noiz was lying on the roof again, stretched out peacefully with the light breeze rustling his hair and mid-morning sun shining off his piercings. His allmate was rolling around next to him.

Aoba watched it for a second, smiling briefly at its cute appearance and behaviour.

"You're not supposed to have allmates trying school hours, you know."

" _P!_

For a single hilarious second, Aoba thought that Noiz had been the one that had squeaked. He tried to stifle the laughter threatening to escape his throat as Noiz sat up and looked at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What?"

"Well... my grandma and brother always bake together, and they usually pack me something extra to share, so... here," Aoba said, walking over to Noiz and handing him the smaller of the two containers he had with him. Noiz looked surprised then hesitant, but he took the container after a few uncomfortable seconds of silence.

"I think it will be the last of the batch of sugar cookies they made a few days ago," Aoba said awkwardly. "Umm, just give me back the container when you can."

Noiz remained quiet, and Aoba licked his lips nervously and backed away.

"Anyway, I guess I'll be going."

Aoba retreated so fast that Noiz wouldn't have had time to speak, even if he had had something to say. Carefully, he opened the lid of the container and picked up a cookie. He popped it into his mouth, enjoying the saccharine taste on his tongue.

"Hmm," Noiz hummed, licking the crumbs from his fingertips, "sweet."


	11. Brown

**17\. Brown**

"Oi," Aoba said, scowling as he dropped his bag of cooking ingredients down on the bench of the miniature home economics kitchen. "I know I'm running late, you don't have to send me a Coil message to remind me."

Mink shrugged and turned back to the mixing bowl cradled in the crook of his arm. He was folding some sort of thick brown mixture through, making sure the little white spots of flour that remained disappeared as he stirred. Seeing how far ahead Mink was already, Aoba put his frustration aside and got his equipment out to start cooking. He was planning to make cupcakes, but now he was silently hoping that they'd have enough time to cook.

"Hey, Mink. What are you making? It always smells the same in here to me."

"Chocolate cinnamon bread," Mink responded. He put the bowl he'd been holding down and reached for a clean one he'd placed next to a few ingredients he'd kept separated from the rest. "And you?"

"I guess that explains the cinnamon smell this time around... and I'm making cupcakes, but..." Aoba muttered, and Mink looked over his shoulder.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, well... there's this guy, you see," Aoba started as he began measuring out his own ingredients, and Mink grunted unpleasantly.

"I don't want to hear about your romance problems."

"R-romance...?" Aoba stuttered, pulling a face even as his cheeks went pink. "It's not like that, damn it! He's a guy in a few of my classes, and he doesn't have his lunch here today! I was hoping one of us would be making something... not sweet. He can't eat stuff like that all day... that's no better than the pizza."

Mink looked like he was about to ask what Aoba was talking about, but quickly decided against it. 

"If it's important to you, we can do a swap."

"A swap?" 

"I'll give you a few slices of this," Mink said, glancing down at the bowl in his hand, "and you give me some of what you're making in exchange. If you manage to do it right."

Aoba glared lightly at Mink. "You said it was okay the other day. And that was one time."

"During the final exam."

Aoba suddenly had the distinct feeling that he was being teased. Mink may have seemed serious on the outside, even frightening, but Aoba had known him long enough to realize that that was just how he appeared. If people knew what he was really like, maybe they wouldn't have avoided him so much. Then again, Mink seemed to like his solitude just fine.

" _Anyway_ ," Aoba said, clearing his throat as he began violently dumping his measured ingredients into his mixing bowl, "it will help with variety, at least. Thanks, Mink. I know it's not really something you should have to worry about." 

Mink nodded, a small smile on his lips as he turned back to his own work. 

"It's fine. Just do your best."

"Yeah," Aoba said, sighing and returning the smile as he too focused on his own work.


	12. Where?

**78\. Where?**

"Oi, Aoba," Koujaku said, sitting down next to him on the change room bench. "Where did you disappear to earlier? During recess, I mean."

"Huh?" Aoba said, distracted by his own thoughts more than anything else that was happening in the room. He snapped back to attention a few seconds later to find himself staring directly at someone else's too-small gym shorts and legs. A quick, nervous glance upward netted him a suspicious glare in return and Aoba smiled awkwardly, the back of his neck prickling with self-conscious heat.

"Ah... sorry, Mink."

The taller boy gave him a look that was somewhere between suspicion and thinly veiled amusement as he turned away, and Aoba had to suppress the reflexive look of second-hand embarrassment that threatened to appear on his face as Mink tried to pull the strained material of his gym shorts lower down on his thighs. 

"Aoba..." Koujaku said, giving his friend a bemused look as he reached down to tie his shoelaces. "Anyway... you didn't answer my question."

As if on cue, the change room door swung open violently and hit the wall behind it with a muted sound of metal and wood on brick. Noiz walked in, gym bag slung over one shoulder and textbooks tucked securely under his other, free arm. Koujaku's expression didn't grow darker, but Aoba noticed a sort of sharpness in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Koujaku was a good guy and one of his best friends, but he usually let his emotions get the better of him far too fast.

"You don't even have anything to be angry about ..." Aoba muttered, sighing softly as he reached behind his head to pull his hair back with the elastic tie on his wrist. He glanced back at Noiz for a moment, and was surprised to find that Noiz was already looking at him. Aoba watched as Noiz put down everything that he was carrying and reached into his sports bag, but his concentration was broken with the realization that Koujaku was watching him watch Noiz. Aoba wasn't sure how to react, and by the time Noiz had reached them he was even more confused about the situation.

Noiz extended his hand directly in front of Aoba's face, so close that Aoba's flinched back a bit.

"Here."

It was the container that the cookies had been in. Aoba didn't dare look at Koujaku as he took the container from Noiz, and he quickly stowed it away in his own gym bag. Noiz still hadn't moved by the time he was done, so Aoba tried his best to break the tension.

"Ah... how were the cookies?"

Noiz hummed and looked away for a moment, one hand raised to cup his own chin as if he were in deep thought.

"Sweet. But not bad."

"That's good! I'm glad you liked them."

Aoba felt that his voice seemed a little too cheery to not be forced, even to his own ears.

That was apparently the limit of Noiz's ability to uphold a conversation, because a moment later he turned back to his gym bag and started pulling his own gym clothes out of it.

"Ah... that was very kind of you, Aoba-san."

"Clear?!" Aoba said, almost shouting in surprise at the sound of the other boy's voice so close to his ear. "When did you get here?"

"I came in after Noiz-san!" Clear said, grinning brightly for a moment before his expression turned more sombre. "Although... Aoba-san was so distracted by Noiz-san that I felt a little unloved when you didn't wave back to me." 

"Err... it wasn't like that," Aoba said. It sounded like an excuse, but it was the truth. Honestly, he hadn't been distracted by Noiz's appearance in the sense that Noiz had caught his attention so much that he'd been worried that Koujaku would walk over and punch him.

Speaking of which...

Aoba looked over at Koujaku, only to find that his best friend's face had now taken on the angry expression that he was used to seeing when he was overreacting to something small. His gaze on Noiz was so intense that Aoba was surprised that Noiz wasn't distracted by it. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he followed Koujaku's line of sight to Noiz, who was currently facing away from them and stripping off his school shirt. Tiny flecks of light glinted off the nape of his neck, and a second after the shirt was gone, he was reaching for the uniform pants that were already resting low on his hips. Aoba looked away at that point, stared firmly at the tiled floor of the change room and said nothing.

"Aoba-san, are you feeling alright?" Clear questioned. "You're pale, but your cheeks are so red... do you have a fever?"

"I'm fine," Aoba replied, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth and feeling utterly confused and humiliated by his own reactions.

Somewhere to the left of him, he heard a deep sigh and a dismissive grunt from Mink.

"Idiots."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Chapter Art**  
> [Mink in his tiny gym shorts](http://ejunkiet.tumblr.com/post/62168550404/chibi-mink-in-tiny-gym-shorts-for-minks) drawn by ejunkiet.
> 
> [Noiz getting undressed + Aoba staring](http://25.media.tumblr.com/2ea9c423eb9b9a83a23fb16ccb2ada9b/tumblr_mtmyd11K3A1radbjho2_1280.jpg) by mio.


	13. Middles

**02\. Middles**

Aoba stretched his arms lazily over his head, back arching as he stepped out of the change rooms and into the sunshine. A small breeze picked up and teased at the sliver of exposed skin between his shirt and shorts, and he quickly pulled the hem of his shirt down in reaction to the sudden chill.

Koujaku was already standing in the middle of the fenced multi-purpose court where they would be having their sports lesson; he'd left shortly after the confrontation in the change rooms, as had Noiz. Aoba had considered staying in the change rooms for the whole lesson to try and drown himself in the showers, but Clear's gentle reassurance and Mink's blunt honesty had both spurred him into action. 

Besides, it wasn't worth the risk if they ended up with the same teacher for the subject as the year before.

Clear and Mink walked a little way ahead of him, and Aoba began to jog to catch up. He passed them with a thankful grin and walked over to Koujaku, whose back was turned to him in a rather pointed way. Aoba felt hurt for just a second, but a quick glance over his shoulder made him realize that Noiz was also behind Koujaku, lurking in the shade of the trees at the edge of the court. 

Aoba felt less hurt then, but a slight irate feeling took its place.

"Oi, Koujaku."

"Ah," Koujaku said, turning around with a smile. "Aoba, I'm sorry about before."

"You don't need to apologize to me," Aoba said, voice heavy with implication, but much to his frustration Koujaku shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Aoba. I'm not going to try to get along with the new kid. I don't see why I should."

"I get that you don't like each other, but..."

"Aoba," Koujaku said firmly, "I know what you're trying to do, but don't force me into it. You can like who you want, but I don't need to do the same. I just have a bad feeling about him, and it won't change."

"You react like this all the time," Aoba said, tone just slightly accusing, "but you never tell me _why_."

Koujaku looked awkward for a second, eyes averting from Aoba's face. Koujaku was just about to speak after a few strange seconds of silence when a familiar, loud and very angry voice filled the air.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!! ALL YOU STUDENTS! GET OVER HERE NOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!"

Koujaku and Aoba exchanged mutual annoyed looks and groans at the familiar sound, but Clear's cheerful voice carried over the sound of their classmates walking over. 

"Yes, Akushima-sensei!"

As they all moved in closer, Aoba caught sight of Noiz. His face was somewhere between irritation and bemusement, and Aoba quickly looked away to stop himself from laughing at his expression.

"TODAY YOU PLAY DODGEBALL. NO FUNNY STUFF, YOU BRATS!" Akushima shouted, the telephone he was shouting into screeching from the volume of his voice. Several people covered their ears. Akushima thrust one arm out violently, his fingertips directly in line with the very top of Aoba's head.

"THERE ARE YOUR TEAMS! GET READY NOW!! YOU'VE SCREWED AROUND LONG ENOUGH!!"

"Aoba, come on," Koujaku said, gently grabbing his wrist to guide him over to his team. Aoba looked over his shoulder and his eyes found Noiz, already loitering towards the back of the other team and avoiding all of the others. 

Although Noiz had thus far never shown any desire to really connect with any of them, the sight of him looking so lonely made Aoba feel inexplicably sad.

"But..." Aoba said, but just as he opened his mouth, Clear appeared and jogged over to talk to Noiz, Mink bringing up the rear.

"Never mind, let's go."

Koujaku smiled and Aoba smiled back, relieved to see his friend looking happier. Still... 

Aoba let out a small sigh. Recently, he'd felt like he'd been caught in the middle a lot more than usual.

"TAKE THE BALL."

A timid-looking girl in the front row of the opposing team let out a squeak of surprise as she caught the ball thrown by their teacher. A sharp sound of the whistle told him that the game was about to start, and Aoba got ready. Next to him, Koujaku crouched a little lower, body tense.

"READY. SET. GOOOOOOOO!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to split this one in two because it was getting too long. The next chapter will finish it off.


	14. Enemies

**22\. Enemies**

"Ouch!"

The boy next to Aoba was hit by the ball on the shoulder as he tried to dodge away, and the girl who'd hit him smiled triumphantly for a second before her face fell, just barely managing to dodge away as Aoba threw the ball back at her.

"Oi Aoba, no need to be so rough," Koujaku said, but he was smirking a little as he said it. Aoba sighed as the ball was thrown back at their team, but a sizeable distance away from where they both stood.

"It's not you throwing it at her, it's me. If you like her you can always apologize to her for my behaviour here and use it as a way to start talking to her, _Koujaku-sempai_."

Koujaku smiled and gently shook his head, and the pair quickly split up and dodged away as the ball came flying back in their direction. Aoba picked the loose ball up off the ground as it hit the fence behind him. Aoba saw Mink standing towards one side and threw the ball at him; Mink ducked, but the ball grazed his arm and he shrugged lightly, walking off to the side and off the court.

Clear picked up the ball and, catching sight of Aoba, tossed the ball to him so gently that Aoba fumbled the catch a little out of surprise.

"Good catch, Aoba-san!"

"... thanks, Clear," Aoba said, laughing sheepishly. From the other side of the court, Noiz shot Clear a look and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like _you've got to be kidding me_. Aoba took the chance and threw the ball at him, and Noiz caught it with relative ease despite the distraction. His eyes scanned the court, looking for a target and his eyes fell on Koujaku, who was still staring at Aoba and laughing at Clear. Noiz threw the ball at him sharply, expression intense. Koujaku noticed and just barely managed to sidestep out of the way. The ball hit the chain link fence behind them with a rattle. Aoba started to make a run for the ball, but the sudden tightness in Koujaku's jaw and the fire in his eyes told Aoba that there was no way his friend was going to take Noiz's attempted sneak attack lightly.

"Fucking brat," Koujaku muttered, and he grabbed the ball with such force that his fingertips made little dips in the rubber. The moment he had steady footing, he threw the ball back at Noiz with twice a much force as usual. Noiz caught it, wincing a little at the strength behind the throw. Gritting his teeth, Noiz threw the ball back again, and Koujaku dodged it by a margin so small that Aoba was sure he saw the material of Koujaku's gym shirt shift as the ball passed him.

The match that was supposed to involve the whole class was becoming a one-on-one. Aoba, Clear and the other students who were still in the game watched as Koujaku and Noiz battled it out, the distance between them shrinking as their throws became stronger, but less accurate as they let frustration take over. Eventually, they were so close that Koujaku was practically an arm's length from Noiz. His arm moved back and whipped forward sharply. Aoba could tell what was going to happen even before Noiz realized he had left himself open; the ball hit Noiz squarely in the chest and rolled off to the side, forgotten.

Koujaku's look of triumph quickly changed to one of shock, and Aoba could see the paler skin of Noiz's hand curled tightly around Koujaku's lower arm.

"Don't touch me," Noiz said with a scowl, and he threw Koujaku's extended arm back at him. Koujaku's face broke into a scowl that easily matched Noiz's in terms of pure malice, and he shoved Noiz back.

"Don't!" Aoba shouted, but his shout was drowned out by another voice.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BRATS?! BOTH OF YOU ARE OUT! YOU'D BETTER SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP BEFORE I GIVE YOU BOTH DETENTION!!"

Aoba had never thought he'd be happy to hear _that_ voice, but both Noiz and Koujaku listened to Akushima-sensei's orders. They set at opposite ends of the court's side with sour looks on their faces and pointedly ignored each other.

Aoba was just beginning to relax again when the ball was thrown at him violently by his teacher.

"FINISH THE DAMN GAME OFF, THEN GET TO THE CHANGE ROOMS! YOU'D BETTER NOT SCREW AROUND!!"

Aoba sighed and tossed the ball at Clear, who happily let it hit him and jogged off to the side to wait for the end of the lesson.


	15. Water

**51\. Water**

Aoba sighed softly as he stepped into the cool spray of water coming from the shower head. The fact that the sports change room showers didn't have a good hot water supply usually annoyed him, but today he was glad for the chill of the cold. Something about it felt so satisfying that it was helping to soothe his frustration.

The dodgeball match had finished uneventfully. He'd been the second-to-last person in his team to be declared out, and the final member of the team hadn't been able to dodge the track's from the remaining three members of the opposite side. Aoba usually wouldn't have bothered with having such a long shower after gym, but it was the period before lunchbreak and, due to the class being set in the middle of the day, the lesson had left him feeling unusually hot and tired.

Not to mention that because he'd been one of the last to get let out of the class, he'd had to wait for a free shower stall. Looking on the bright side, that meant that it was unlikely anyone would disturb him by banging on the stall door and telling him to hurry up. Aoba sighed happily and shut his eyes, facing into the spray of the water and working his fingers through his hair until it was just a little damp.

He was already feeling much more relaxed than he had felt earlier. He would have liked to take longer, but his skin would start to prune and he still had to eat lunch. Taking one last moment to stretch his arms over his head and let the water cover his body, Aoba then reached over and shut the water off, reaching for his towel after a few seconds of letting the excess droplets of water run off his skin.

When he let the shower stall, towel wrapped securely around his hips, Aoba was surprised to see that the change room was still busy. Everyone seemed to be taking their time because they didn't have to rush off to another class. Aoba stepped around a few of his classmates to grab his sports bag and then claimed one of the few spare spaces in front of the benches. He withdrew his underwear and uniform pants from the bag and tugged them on, discarding his damp towel to the side as he pulled both arcticles of clothing firmly onto his hips. He had just started unbuttoning the remaining fastened buttons on his shirt when someone walked up next to him and tossed their bag on the remaining sliver of bench.

"Ah... hi," Aoba said awkwardly. 

Noiz glanced over at him with a perplexed look and reached into his own sports bag for his uniform. His hair was still damp, and there was a droplet of water running down his nape from his hair line, curling around one of the piercings on the back of his neck.Aoba watched idly for a moment, but a second later he saw Noiz reach for the knot in his towel and loosen it with a quick flick of his wrist. Aoba's cheeks burned as his eyes caught sight of the expanse of exposed, bare skin, but he looked away before he saw anything more.

Was this how people were these days? Or did Noiz just not have any shame?

Aoba shrugged his shirt onto his shoulders and started to button it up, only to realize halfway through that he'd fastened the buttons wrong. Cursing mentally, Aoba tugged the buttons back apart, only to have one of the bottom buttons pop off from the force of his actions. It hit the wall in front of the bench with a soft tapping noise and fell to the floor between himself and Noiz, and this time Aoba didn't bother confining his cursing to just his mind. Aoba bent down to pick up the button, but a glint of metal automatically drew his gaze to the lower half of Noiz's body.

Aoba felt his mouth fall open and the fine hairs on his arms and neck stand on end. 

"... what are you staring at?"

Noiz's voice made Aoba jump, but curiosity and shock got the better of his judgement.

"What's wrong w-with it?!"

Noiz looked down his own body at 'it'. 

"I don't get you."

"I-it's full of metal?!" Aoba spluttered, unable to tear his eyes away.

"Ah."

Noiz nodded once and raised one hand to his chin thoughtfully, pulling his underwear and pants up properly with his other hand. After few seconds of what looked like careful thought, Noiz looked back at Aoba with a bored look on his face.

"Do you want to touch it?"

Aoba's own surprised shout of _what_ was drowned out by a much louder, angrier one as Koujaku suddenly appeared, half-clothed but almost as red in the face as Aoba currently was, but for a much different reason.

"Oi, you bastard! What the hell did you just say to Aoba?!"

"Nothing that concerned you," Noiz deadpanned, but Koujaku was already in the process of shoving him away from Aoba.

"Stop it, you two! Are you stupid?!" Aoba said, trying to intervene, but Noiz's expression had already twisted into a cruel smile.

"What did I say before about touching me, you asshole?"

That was what broke Koujaku's patience, and a second later both Noiz and Koujaku were on the floor, fists flying as they fought to gain the upper hand. Aoba tried to separate them but found it impossible, and was glad when Mink and Clear appeared a few seconds later, fully dressed with their gym bags slung over their shoulders. The rest of their classmates had noticed the fight too, and Aoba doubted their cheering and shouting was helping the situation.

"Oi," Mink said, and he gestured to the change room doors with a jerk of his head. Aoba got the message and followed them to the door.

"Mink-san and I thought that it would be best to let Akushima-sensei handle this one," Clear said, a little too brightly. Mink grunted in agreement.

"Some idiots just need to learn by force."

Aoba nodded in agreement, and then groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"It's okay," Clear said, tone soothing. 

"Must be hard to have two complete morons chasing after you."

Aoba buried his face further into his hands, cheeks red, and Clear scolded Mink for his lack of empathy all the way to the staff room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Art**
> 
> [Staring in the locker room](http://quarrelsomeart.tumblr.com/post/60295287044/noiz-pierced-dick) by Quarrelsome.


	16. How?

**81\. How?**

Aoba ate lunch alone in the homeroom classroom, the same room he had English in the next period, because he was unable to find Koujaku for company after the incident in the change rooms. He thought about both Koujaku and Noiz briefly, wondering exactly what had happened after he'd gone with Clear and Mink to tell Akushima that the fight had occurred. It wasn't what he'd wanted to do, but he'd started to feel like nothing was going to end the feud between the two unless they were punished for their stupid behaviour. How was he supposed to deal with them when they were like that?

Aoba sighed and picked at the last few grains of rice in his bento box with his chopsticks. A large shadow appeared in his field of view as he finished his food, and he felt a gentle tap on his head with something plastic. He looked up to find Mink standing in front of him, holding out the container Aoba used to hold the things he baked in home economics class.

"Ah, thanks Mink," Aoba said, taking the container from Mink. The taller boy shrugged.

"Had to pick mine up anyway. I was surprised that you hadn't already grabbed yours. By the way, I already did the swap like you wanted."

"Eh? Why?" Aoba asked. Mink quirked a brow at him.

"For the maniac brat."

"Maniac brat...?" Aoba echoed weakly, before his face lit up with recognition. "You mean Noiz?"

Mink nodded, and this time it was Aoba's turn to raise an eyebrow in question.

" _Maniac_?"

"Did you see the way he was going at your friend when they were fighting? He was flailing around like every second he was near him was shortening his life."

"I was trying not to look," Aoba groaned, and Mink responded with an unsympathetic grunt.

"Anyway, you should probably go find the new kid before the bell rings if you want to feed him."

Aoba suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, face heating up under Mink's sharp gaze, but the sound of the bell signaling the end of lunch saved him from any further awkwardness.

"Too late now, " Aoba muttered, looking at the container in his hands before putting it on the desk with his bento box.

"I've gotta get to English class," Mink said, turning on his heel. "You should probably get that weird look off your face before the maniac kid gets here. He's in your class, right?"

Aoba groaned and let his face fall onto the desk in frustration, cheeks still burning as he hid the lower half of his face in his arms, leaving only his eyes visible until the heat eased off. didn't know how to feel; all his emotions felt messed up and conflicted. How had his regular, boring school life become this sort of wreck in this short amount of time?


	17. Red

**11\. Red**

"Okay, do you all understand?" 

Everyone nodded slowly or hummed in agreement; it was a lazy response, but it seemed to satisfy their teacher well enough.

"Okay, pair up and do the speaking exercises from the pages listed on the board. You can move around the room a bit, if it helps."

Aoba looked around him as people started to pair up and move to quiet corners of the room, away from the teacher's invasive gaze. Aoba caught sight of Koujaku and gave him a questioning look, but all he received in return was an apologetic smile and tilt of the head towards the blushing girl that was now on Koujaku's arm. Aoba shook his head and waved his hand to show that it wasn't a big deal, and tried to find another partner to do the exercise with.

"Oi."

The soft, familiar voice almost made him jump out of his seat, but Aoba tried to recover smoothly as he turned around, placing the least-awkward smile that he could manage on his face.

"Y-yes?"

Noiz gave him a deadpan look and rested his head on one upturned palm. He had a slight bruise on his left cheekbone and a cut close to the middle of his lip, but otherwise looked like he'd made it through the scuffle with Koujaku relatively unscathed. "Let's do this together."

"If you want to. I mean, if you..." Aoba started, but he cut himself off to stop himself from sounding even more idiotic, and grabbed his English books from off his desk to try and make the hesitation seem more natural. "Do you want to move anywhere?"

"I'm fine here," Noiz said with a shrug, and Aoba spun his chair around with a loud, obvious screech of rubber on linoleum. Noiz winced a little, and Aoba looked sheepish as he placed his books on the front of Noiz's desk.

"Sorry," Aoba muttered, and Noiz frowned at him.

"Why?"

"For that just now. And... for acting weird before," Aoba said, feeling his cheeks burn. "After gym."

Noiz hummed softly in realization, and a small smirk curled his lips.

"Never had a reaction like that before. Though it wasn't bad. Your face is kinda cute when you're surprised."

Aoba felt heat burn from the base of his neck go the tips of his ears. "Shut up!!"

Noiz frowned, looking slightly frustrated at Aoba's reaction.

"I don't get you. I think I understand but then you start acting weird again."

Aoba suddenly felt a little annoyed at Noiz.

"Well, sorry for making you feel like that, but it's not as if we know each other anyway."

"Whatever," Noiz muttered, looking annoyed, "we should do this stuff before she gets over here to check what we're doing."

They both flipped their textbooks and workbooks open to the pages they needed to focus on. It seemed like some sort of personal information questionnaire, with the questions and required answers getting more complex as they progressed.

"Name, age, nationality..." Aoba said already feeling bored with the first couple of questions. Noiz looked equally unimpressed, and seemed to be keeping himself entertained by writing fake answers to the later questions.

Aoba didn't bother doing the same, instead focusing on the turmoil inside his skull. Noiz wasn't doing anything particularly infuruating, so why did he feel the need to lash out and get angry at him for everything? 

Wa it going to be like this, with him feeling confused and angry?

Or was it going to be like after gym...

Aoba shut his eyes, inhaled slowly through his nose and breathed out through his mouth. How was he supposed to feel?

"Hey."

Aoba opened his eyes sharply, and Noiz tossed his head back gently to indicate their teacher getting closer.

"We should get some of this done."

Aoba nodded, and quickly scrawled Noiz's name down in the space in his workbook.

"Age?"

"I'm eighteen in three weeks," Aoba said, and Noiz nodded once. "You?"

"Nineteen. In June."

That was a surprise. Aoba looked up at Noiz, but the other boy had already looked back down at his own workbook and didn't exactly seem desperate to volunteer the story behind his extra year of schooling. For some reason, he looked a little frustrated as he tried to write.

"Nationality... well, I'm Japanese," Aoba said. "You? I don't think you're from here originally, are you?"

Noiz said a word that sounded familiar to Aoba's ears but wasn't immediately recognizable to him. 

"Eh, what was that?"

Noiz sighed gently, and reached out for Aoba's hand, their fingers brushing gently.

"Let me borrow this. My pen's running out of ink."

Aoba nodded, feeling himself blush for the umpteenth time at the contact. If Noiz noticed, he did a good job of not showing it. Noiz didn't seem nearly as bothered as Aoba was by the small things, and Aoba forced himself to calm down. He took another deep breath, shut his eyes, swallowed around the lump in his throat and just waited for his mind to accept it all in its own time, to find its own sense of calm while it figured things out. 

"Oi. Here," Noiz said. Aoba opened his eyes again, feeling the warmth slowly flow away from his face. Noiz tapped a spot at the corner of his workbook, and Aoba's eyed widened at the characters on the paper. 

"You're _German_?!"

The words left his lips much louder than he intended, and Aoba felt the blush rush back to his face as the class stared at him.

So much for staying calm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Art**  
> [English class](https://twitter.com/bakagamio/status/385594719134179328/photo/1) by mio.


	18. Ends

**03\. Ends**

Aoba hummed happily and stretched his arms over his head, the slight burn feeling good in his tired muscles. School was over for the week, but the wait to get to the lockers at this time of day was always long if you didn't get out of afternoon homeroom early. Aoba waited his turn, watching with some irritation as people wasted time or leaned against the lockers to talk to friends while others were waiting. He rolled his eyes and sighed at a particularly large group of girls who were standing right in front of his locker, but he felt even more bemused when he realized the reason that they were crowding.

"Oi..." Aoba sighed, and Koujaku looked over the small crowd and smiled.

"Aoba! Ah, sorry about this. Miss, if you could please move this way..."

Aoba squeezed through the small gap to his locker, opened it and retrieved his bag, along with the books he'd need to use over the weekend for homework. He was just about finished with packing up when he heard Koujaku clear his throat.

"Hey, Aoba."

Aoba leaned back so he could see Koujaku from around the open door of his locker. "Hmm?"

"Mum's working late tonight, so I'll be coming over for dinner. Just got some things to do at home first, so I'll message you when I'm on my way."

"You could always come over to my house for dinner, Koujaku-sempai..." one of the girls said face burning red even as the words left her lips, but Koujaku replied with a gentle shake of his head.

"Ah, I wouldn't want to intrude. Our families are old friends, you see..."

Aoba finished packing his bag and looked at the girls surrounding Koujaku, hanging onto his every word, and couldn't help wondering what the "things" his friend had to do at home before coming over were.

"I'll see you later," Aoba said, and he exchanged a smile with Koujaku before he headed towards the corner at the end of the corridor. He didn't manage to get very far after that though, because he suddenly found himself weighed down by another person giving him a suffocating hug.

"Aoba-san!" Clear said, beaming happily as he pulled away. "Have a good weekend!"

"You too, Clear," Aoba said, barely managing to catch his breath to reply.

"Ah, by the way, I sent a message to Noiz-san about another meeting for our music assignment next week. I was going to send you a message too, but now I can tell you in person. Our meetings will be at the same time every week, in the morning before class."

"Okay. Um, do you want me to do anything for it?"

"No, please leave it to me!" Clear said, edging away as he spoke. "I'll try to have the sheet music for the song written out by our next meeting! Sorry, Aoba-san, but I have to hurry home. Grandpa said he needs my help with a repair job."

"Okay, but don't overdo it!" Aoba said with a grin as Clear began to walk away. "Have a good weekend!"

Once Clear was out of his sight, swallowed by the crowds of students, Aoba made for the exit at the end of the corridor. It led to a flight of stairs that ran from the top of the main school building to the bottom floor, and was usually much less busy at this time of day than the main stairwells inside the building. The warm afternoon breeze hit Aoba's skin as he opened the door, and he finally slung his bag over his shoulder as he stepped out onto the small landing and turned to head down the stairs.

A tall figure standing on the lower landing made him smile, and he grinned as he jogged down the stairs.

"You're gonna get suspended if one of the teachers catches you."

Mink grunted and shrugged, taking the cigarette from between his lips.

"I doubt they'll find me here."

"Don't blame me if you get caught, then."

"I won't, because I didn't ask for your opinion in the first place," Mink said irritably, and he stubbed the smoke out on the fence surrounding the stair case. 

"Okay, okay," Aoba said with a sigh, and he reached out to give Mink a rough pat on the shoulder. "See you next week."

Aoba was halfway down the next floor by the time he heard Mink again.

"Oi. The weird maniac kid comes this way if you still haven't given your food to him."

"How did you know?" Aoba groaned, and he could practically hear the smirk in Mink's voice the next time he spoke.

"A guess. Anyway, I'm leaving, so I don't care if you stay here. You might be waiting a long time though, it's been a week and I've never seen him leave less than twenty minutes after the last bell."

Aoba paused on the lower landing and sighed, feeling the vibrations of Mink's heavy footfalls shaking the stair case as he descended. 

"Are you staying or going? You're blocking the way."

Aoba stepped to the side, letting Mink pass, staring down at his feet and feeling uncertain all the while.

"... I'll stay."

Mink smirked as he disappeared from sight, but Aoba could still hear his voice echo up the stairs as he eased himself down onto the stairs to wait.

"Figured you would."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to split this chapter and the next one into two because of length, sorry. I'll get it written tonight and post it tomorrow. Also: apologies for the delay for these parts, had to make some difficult choices between these scenes/plots/etc. and a few others I really liked.


	19. He

**84\. He**

Aoba sighed, hugging his knees up to his chest as he rocked back and forth on the stairs, his bag left on the landing below him. He felt restless and nervous, and there was a strange, prickly heat flaring in his stomach that made him feel irritated.

He didn't even know why he felt these emotions with such sudden strength now, but he was determined that they would not get the better of him. He'd waited this long, and he could wait longer still if he had to.

Another five minutes passed. Aoba was beginning to think it wasn't such a bad idea to forget the whole thing when the sound of a door on one of the above floors opening snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly stood up and moved his bag out of the stairwell and listened for voices by which to identify the person approaching. He wasn't even sure that the person was Noiz, and he could only hope that he wouldn't end up looking like a weirdo in front of a random stranger.

" _Sync complete, no new messages! P!_ "

"Mmm. Got it."

The second voice was definitely Noiz's, and the first was too high-pitched and mechanical to be anything but an allmate. Recalling the small green and black cube that he'd seen Noiz using on the first day, it was fair to assume it was the same allmate as Aoba had seen him using on that day.

The footsteps got closer very slowly, almost as if Noiz was trying to delay his departure from the school even more. Aoba brushed down his uniform shirt and pants with open palms, feeling strangely self conscious as the footsteps got louder, finally sounding as if they were directly above his head. Aoba watched as Noiz rounded the corner, and immediately had to stifle his laughter upon seeing him.

Noiz was wearing some sort of handmade knitted hat that matched his allmate; there were tiny green and navy blue rabbit cube patterns knitted into it and fluffy pompoms hanging from the braided strings attached to the ear flaps. 

Noiz stopped in the middle of the stairs and gave Aoba an extremely confused look.

"Why are you here? And what's with that weird look on your face?"

"Sorry," Aoba said, managing to catch his breath as Noiz took a few more steps towards him. The cute, childish design of the hat had been unexpected enough to make him laugh, especially considering Noiz's personality. 

Noiz shut his eyes with a sigh and jammed both his hands into his pocket, taking the squeaking allmate resting in his palm with him. Aoba caught a better look at it before it disappeared, and realized he'd been wrong; the allmate Noiz had with him today was similar to the other one he'd seen, but not the same. The colours were inverted, with this one having a navy blue face and a pale green face instead of the opposite.

Ignoring the indignant _P!_ that came from his pocket, Noiz opened his eyes again and descended the last few stairs that separated him from Aoba.

"You still didn't answer my question."

Despite his earlier concerns about running into a complete stranger while waiting, Aoba was quickly realizing that finally encountering Noiz and having to explain what he was doing wasn't much better on his nerves. Lacking anything else to say, Aoba reached for his bag and grabbed the container that Mink had brought to him before English class.

"I meant to give this to you during lunch, but... ah," Aoba trailed off, gaze resting on the bruise on Noiz's face. "Take it."

Noiz took one look at Aoba's outstretched hand and frowned.

"Is that all?"

"... yeah," Aoba muttered, feeling stupider by the second.

"I don't get it."

"What is there to get?" Aoba asked blankly, and Noiz gestured to the container.

"You have no reason to act like this. People don't do this sort of stuff for other people without an ulterior motive."

"You think I'm doing this because I _want_ something from you? Aoba asked, feeling a little annoyed. Contrary to what Aoba thought might happen, Noiz didn't look awkward or ashamed at all; instead, his frown deepened. 

"And there's this. One minute you're sucking up to me and the next you're yelling."

"I think that has more to do with your perception than me," Aoba said with a strained smile and through gritted teeth. A moment later, he shook his head and waved his free hand in front of his body as if to dismiss his own words. "Ugh, that's not... just listen."

Noiz seemed to be willing to do that, at least. Aoba allowed himself a relieved little sigh before he continued.

"You can think whatever the hell you want, but I can tell you right now that I'm only doing this because I want to do it. No one's forcing me to do anything, and I don't expect anything in return, so don't worry about it."

Noiz's expression didn't change. Aoba extended his hand again, container still clutched tightly within his grasp.

"I wouldn't have waited if I didn't want to. My offer still stands. You can take it or you can leave it."

Noiz's expression had gradually changed from cool certainty to something that looked more like a mix of confusion and irritation. Aoba stood firm, and he watched as Noiz slowly and wordlessly reached out and took the container from him and tucked it under his arm.

Aoba smirked and nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't mention it."

Noiz looked irritated for a second, but he quickly recovered.

"... thanks."

Aoba was positive that it was the first time he'd heard Noiz say anything like that to him, and he blushed a little when he saw the sincerity in Noiz's eyes. He was sure his surprise showed on his face, but he tried to recover and look cool anyway.

"I said dont mention it."

Noiz scoffed a little, smirking. "There it is again."

"What? " Aoba muttered, and Noiz's smirk widened.

"If you can't remember, I'm not going to tell you."

Aoba felt confused already, but he felt his heart thump uncomfortably against his breastbone as Noiz took a step closer and leaned in.

"Wahh--!"

Whatever incomprehensible thing had tried to escape Aoba's throat was soundly cut off as he found Noiz's lips pressed against his own. The moment was brief, but Aoba felt as if the seconds ticked by in slow motion. He could feel the rough spot in the middle of Noiz's bottom lip where the skin had been split during his fight with Koujaku, and the jarring, calming cool of Noiz's flesh compared to his own.

There was a warm breath that tickled Aoba's lips, and a slight hint of wet tongue on his bottom lip as Noiz pulled away, looking as unshakable as ever aside from the small smirk that was still on his face.

"See you."

And with that, Noiz walked past Aoba and headed down the stairs, casually tucking his hands back into his pockets as he went.

Aoba, meanwhile, stood frozen with shock for a good minute before he could even move again. When he finally did, the first movement he made was an unwilling, astonished widening of his eyes.

_Noiz... he... he...!_

Aoba felt like his head was going to explode from the heat rushing to his face.

A beep from his Coil broke him out of his shock, and he clumsily reached over to bring up the message menu.

It was Koujaku saying that his business that home was done and he'd be on his way over in just a few minutes.

Swearing softly under his breath, Aoba gathered up his bag and ran down the stairs. He'd completely forgotten about what Koujaku had said until now, but he only had himself to blame.

Raising one hand to his own cheek, feeling the heat that still refused to fade, Aoba silently hoped that Koujaku wouldn't ask too many questions about why he looked so flustered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Art**  
> [Chuu](https://twitter.com/bakagamio/status/385593408598732800/photo/1) by mio.


	20. Children

**28\. Children**

Koujaku was already waiting for Aoba by the time he got home. When Aoba ascended the stairs and turned into the room he shared with Sei, he found his friend lounging around on his bed in a bright red, elaborately decorated kimono, his hair damp and his whole body relaxed as he chatted with the older Seragaki brother. Ren was napping peacefully in Sei's lap, stretched out with his belly exposed for pats.

"Oi, you'd better not be dripping water all over my pillow," Aoba grumbled as he dropped his school bag in the doorway. "I hate sleeping on a wet pillow."

Koujaku and Sei both laughed and Koujaku tossed his fringe out of his face as he sat up to make room for Aoba to sit. Once Aoba was settled on the bed with his back against the wall, Koujaku put his legs back over Aoba's; Aoba gave a resigned sigh and smacked him lightly on the kneecap.

"Don't get used to this."

"Consider it payback," Koujaku said with a chuckle, and Aoba frowned.

"Payback for what?"

"Hmmm," Koujaku hummed, searching his brain for an excuse. A few seconds passed, and Koujaku snapped his fingers in victory. "Remember that time I helped you two escape old man Haga's junk shop when you were kids, after you broke that ugly sign he loved?"

"You'll run out of stuff eventually," Aoba replied, and Sei stifled his laughter behind one gloved hand. 

"Haga-san has warmed go Aoba a lot since he started helping him out during the holidays and on weekends."

"He's probably taking money of all of his paychecks to make up for the damage we did over the years," Koujaku muttered, before he sat up and ran his hand through his hair. It left it tousled and messed up in a rather handsome way, and Aoba sighed and gently shoved Koujaku in the chest.

"There's no one here for you to impress, you hippo."

Koujaku snorted and sat up properly, and Sei gave Aoba a confused look.

"Why hippo?"

"Coz he's a lazy guy with a big mouth," Aoba muttered. "But everyone's fascinated with him anyway."

"You wound me, Aoba," Koujaku said, sighing dramatically as he launched himself off the bed. "Anyway, I brought my English books over. Want to get started on the homework?"

Aoba poked out his tongue. "You mean you want me to help you."

"I can help you if you like, Koujaku," Sei said, getting off his own bed. "Aoba's being unreasonable this afternoon."

"Yeah," Koujaku said with a frown as he retrieved his books. "Did something happen, Aoba? You were pretty late getting back."

Aoba felt himself blush, and he launched himself off the bed so fast that Koujaku was almost sent flying.

"I-it's nothing."

"Aoba's emotions are unstable," Ren stated evenly, wriggling his tiny legs until he was able to flip over and lie belly-down in Sei's lap. Aoba shot him a glare over his shoulder, and Ren wagged his tail back and forth casually, as if the whole action was the dog equivalent of a shrug.

"Aoba..." Sei said, barely above a whisper, and Aoba busied himself in his school bag again. When Sei sounded like that, when he stared at him... it was hard to lie to him, and even if he tried, it was if Sei's eyes could stare into his soul and draw out his insecurities. 

Aoba sighed and focused on finding his books. That sounded ridiculous, when he thought about it, but it was the truth.

A few seconds later, his fingers closed over cold plastic and he found himself drawing the plastic biscuit container out into the open to get it out of his way.

"Aww, you had Tae-san's biscuits and you didn't share?" Koujaku said with a slightly disappointed expression. Aoba was about to reply when something from inside the container rattled around, causing him to extend his arm out as far as he could to get the container as far away from him as he could without dropping it.

"Wha?!"

"That wasn't you doing that?" Koujaku asked, and he frowned when Aoba shook his head. Carefully bringing the container back in and cradling it in the crook of his arms, Aoba peeled the lid off and almost dropped it in surprise as a tiny green and navy blue cube jumped out and started bouncing around the room. Sei flinched, Koujaku scowled, and Ren jumped from his place in Sei's lap and quickly slunk off beneath Aoba's bed, unwilling to be part of the situation at all.

" _Pi! Piii~!!_ " the cube squeaked, apparently thrilled to be freed from its plastic prison.

"Aah!" Sei shouted in surprise as the cube bounced off the top of his head and towards the now furious Koujaku. "Aoba, what is it?!"

Aoba stared around the room hopelessly as Sei tried to avoid the cube's erratic bouncing, and Koujaku tried to grab it with such violent gestures that he was adraid he'd crush the poor thing if he got his hands on it.

Well, at least that explained why Noiz was using a different allmate earlier...

Later on, when he managed to catch the allmate, he had a feeling that he'd have a lot to explain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter but I've been struggling with it long enough to not care anymore |D;;


End file.
